Computer systems and networks that process accounting data in a control center of financial institutions have struggled to keep up with the ever increasingly complex and expanding variety of electronic accounting data. Accounting data can include data relating and leading up to implementations of payment systems and associated networks. More and more transactions are accomplished without direct payment (e.g., cash) from the buyer to the merchant/seller. Generally, these associated networks involve two primary components. The first component is a seller access network (e.g., Nova®) that provides connection to the point-of-sale (POS) devices (either directly or via merchant internal networks) and identification of the type of payment account (e.g., Visa® or Voyager®). A second component includes payment processing networks that process payment instructions based on established agreements by the participants. Generally, these payment processing networks are one of two different categories, proprietary networks (e.g., Voyager®) or association networks. Examples of association networks include the networks provided by VISA® and MASTERCARD® and/or the particular acquiring/issuing banks. For a particular transaction, the operator of the association network controls the flow of funds for the transaction. Often, this includes a fee that is passed on to the seller, such as a percentage of the transaction. The participating sellers have an agreement with the network (e.g., VISA or MASTERCARD), but do not have a transactional relationship between one another with respect to the association network transactions.
Such transactions are often implemented where the seller has an existing relationship with a bank. The seller sends the transaction information to this bank, sometimes referred to as the acquiring bank. The acquiring bank can forward the payment information to a bank that issued the card, sometimes referred to as the issuing bank. Often the payment processing networks assign interchange fees that are paid between the parties based on the type of transaction, authentication and location. These fees may be passed on to the seller.
An example of a proprietary network is a merchant-provided in-store credit or debit account. The seller, or a seller contracted third party, handles the settlement, authorization and/or other functions associated with a transaction. In some instances, the seller can form bilateral agreements with other sellers to allow use of one network by multiple sellers or to coordinate use of multiple networks between multiple sellers. The sellers establish the bilateral agreements with one another to allow such functionality. For instance, two department stores may allow use of the same proprietary network card at either store or they may allow use of two different proprietary network cards (i.e., one from each store) at either store.
A few networks allow for a single (multi-purpose) card to provide access to more than one account. The card interfaces with a network that would otherwise support one or more of the accounts. The cardholder designates a desired account to use. The transaction is processed as if the card associated with the desired account had been used. Thus, the underlying transactional functions operate in much the same manner as if the original card had been used. The buyer must still carry the multi-purpose card for use and can only use the multi-purpose card at locations that support that particular card.
In this complex and ever expanding background of various payment networks, consumers have an increasing number of accounts from which they can access funds for purchases (e.g., credit, debit, insurance, health-savings accounts, money markets, investment and retirement). These accounts can vary with respect to their respective fees, tax implications, interest rates, limitations on withdraw amounts and a number of other properties. Often the consumer is forced to spend considerable time and effort to manage such accounts and associated transactions. For example, considerable time and effort can be expended in determining how to best apply specific transactions and/or purchased items to the various accounts. In some instances, the actual implementation of such a determination can be just as difficult.